Monday, December 22

I'm not sure whether to congratulate or sympathise with you. You have your mamma who wrote an entire book of letters to you (and to Diya) as well but then to compound it, your father keeps on sending you weirdass articles with strange commentary and advise.

I'm reminded of a quote, 'the thing to do with good advice is to pass it on, it's never good for oneself'.

I used to correspond copiously with Dadu's elder brother. He was a ferociously intelligent man, with some very strong opinions about English, grammar, history, bibliography etc. I used to spend summers with him and we would talk and discuss about variety of things. And when I used to write to him, he would reply and also and my letters back corrected for grammar and spelling. Heh.

Actually, there is a very long tradition down history of men writing to their sons or their mentees. For example, the first book I read was called as, Lord Chesterfield's letters to his son. Gandhi did it. You know why? Because fathers don't want their sons (and daughters) to make the same mistakes as they did or they want to make sure that the happiness they received is also adopted by their sons and daughters. I don't write too much to Diya at the moment about weighty things. She is a bit too young but we still have fun on a variety of topics, mostly related to what I photograph.

Anyway, here are 5 letters that famous dad's wrote to their sons. History doesn't record what their sons thought of these letters but be that as it may, happy reading son.

“The secret of success is concentrating interest in life… interest in the small things of nature… In other words to be fully awake to everything.”

With Father’s Day around the corner, let’s take a moment to pay heed to some of the wisest, most heart-warming advice from history’s famous dads. Gathered here are five timeless favorites, further perpetuating my well-documented love of the art of letter-writing.

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

In a 1933 letter to his 11-year-old daughter Scottie, F. Scott Fitzgeraldproduced this poignant and wise list of things to worry, not worry, and think about, found in the altogether excellent F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters:

Things to worry about:

Worry about courageWorry about CleanlinessWorry about efficiencyWorry about horsemanshipWorry about…

Things not to worry about:

Don’t worry about popular opinionDon’t worry about dollsDon’t worry about the pastDon’t worry about the futureDon’t worry about growing upDon’t worry about anybody getting ahead of youDon’t worry about triumphDon’t worry about failure unless it comes through your own faultDon’t worry about mosquitoesDon’t worry about fliesDon’t worry about insects in generalDon’t worry about parentsDon’t worry about boysDon’t worry about disappointmentsDon’t worry about pleasuresDon’t worry about satisfactions

Things to think about:

What am I really aiming at?How good am I really in comparison to my contemporaries in regard to:

(a) Scholarship(b) Do I really understand about people and am I able to get along with them?(c) Am I trying to make my body a useful instrument or am I neglecting it?